In a new interview, the person who’s auctioning the sweater worn by Kurt Cobain during Nirvana’s appearance on MTV Unplugged explains why he decided he no longer wants it for himself.
Garrett Kletjian, who owns professional race car team Forty7 Motorsports, bought it at auction four years ago for $137,500. He pretty much admits that there’s just too much pressure having it.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Kletjian, who had remained anonymous up to now, compares the day he received the cardigan in the mail to the day his children were born. “I opened it up and it immediately hits me: ‘Oh, now I’m also going to be responsible for this.'” As with the arrival of his kids, he felt “so happy to see them, but then [it] was like, ‘Oh, no…'”
Asked if he’s ever actually worn the sweater, Kletjian reveals that he put it on once, but then decided, “Ah, no. God, I don’t want to wear this.” He says it was just too weird having someone else’s clothing on.
The item has never been washed, and auction house owner Darrell Julien feels to do so would diminish its value. “The stains are still there. There’s even cigarettes burns that you can see on the sweater.”
Kletjian says what initially attracted him to owning it, was that Kurt “was obviously in a bad way at the time. I look at this sweater as something that he put on every day. It was comfortable and it was familiar. So I liked the idea that, while he might have been tortured inside, this was a piece that offered him a bit of comfort.”
The sweater will be auctioned this weekend. Rolling Stone says it’s expected to double its value.
